Mexican restaurant brings street food spirit indoors...

Restaurateurs Peter Lew and Nicole Galloway certainly can’t be accused of staying in their comfort zone, or being formulaic. Lauded as Sydney’s new generation in the food world, the pair have already conquered China with the well-received Fei Jai, and their latest project plants another flag in the culinary map, this time flying the colours of Mexico.

Not only are Lew and Galloway diversifying geographically, but the food at Barrio Chino in the King’s Cross area is as deliciously different as the décor. Tacos and nachos are out, street food is in, using light, colourful and fresh ingredients. That’s something Mandy Edge, owner of Edge Design Studio, employed in her interior, taking inspiration from New York’s La Esquina. There’s a rawness to the chipped plaster walls, faintly coloured with the faded pastels of former decorations. There’s a choice too in seating: gym-savvy hipsters with buns of steel might like the rough-hewn plank seating, those who only squat when nature calls should probably go for the leather-clad options. Hot stuff.